


A Family Trait

by Cantatrice18



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Estrangement, Family Drama, Family Secrets, Gen, Hidden Talents, Metamorphmagus, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-27
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-08-27 09:54:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8397085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cantatrice18/pseuds/Cantatrice18
Summary: Teddy Lupin runs into trouble with his metamorphosing, causing Andromeda to seek out the only person she believes could help bring the boy's powers under control. But after 30 years, Narcissa isn't about to help her sister without good cause.





	1. Chapter 1

Diagon Alley filled quickly, magical beings celebrating the first day without rain in over a month. Clusters of wizards gathered around piles of cauldrons, comparing prices of unicorn hair (“Half a sickle less in Hogsmead”) and betting on quiddich (“Harpies 2-1 odds over the Wasps, their chasers are unbeatable”). Hogwarts students, home for the Easter holidays, swarmed into Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes or stopped to admire the brooms in the window of Quality Quiddich Supples. No one seemed to see the little boy with dark hair as he wove his way through the crowds, calling for his grandmother. If they had, they would have noticed that his hair was not black at all, as it had first seemed, but a deep navy blue. A group of chattering witches in green cloaks swept the boy further down the alley, and he struggled to avoid being trampled among the crowd. His gaze darted around, searching desperately for a familiar figure. Finally he spotted it: a tall, elegant woman in a black cloak, just leaving Flourish and Blotts. “Grandmother!” he called, weaving through legs and around a trio of goblins. At the last moment he stumbled, grabbing onto the elegant woman’s cloak for support to keep himself upright. “Grandmother, I’m sorry, I—“

Ice blue eyes stared imperiously down at him as the woman jerked her cloak out of his grasp. He took a step back and missed his footing, falling painfully onto his rump as he stared up at the unfamiliar woman. She wore an expression of disgust as she took in his disheveled appearance, and he felt as though he were shriveling under her gaze. “I’m so sorry,” he stammered, his voice higher than usual. “You look like…I thought you were my Grandmother.”

“Happily I am not,” the woman replied coldly, and on further inspection the boy couldn’t understand how he had possibly made such a mistake. This woman was taller, slimmer than his Grandmother, her white blonde hair shimmering as it caught the afternoon light. Her clothes were fancier too, velvets and silks instead of what his Grandmother referred to as ‘sensible fabrics’. 

He felt himself begin to blush, the red creeping up his face until it reached his hair and not stopping there. The woman’s expression shifted from superiority to a look of shock, and he knew his hair must have changed to reflect his embarrassment. It always chose to change at the worst possible moment. He flinched as the woman reached out to touch his flame-red hair. “I’m sorry,” he repeated again. “I’ll just, just—“

“Teddy!” a blessedly familiar voice called. Relief washed over him and he sprang to his feet, raising his arm and waving. “Here, Grandmother!” he called.

From the crowd emerged an older woman. Her chestnut hair was tied back in a bun at the nape of her neck, a few strands of grey visible at her temples. Her brown eyes were full of worry as they searched for the boy, one hand resting on the pocket of her dress where her wand no doubt resided. Her expression softened when she caught sight of the little boy, but froze when she noticed his companion. For her part, the other woman looked surprised and not pleased in the slightest to see the newcomer. There was a moment of tense silence as the women stared at one another. Then Teddy ran to the older woman’s side, grabbing onto her hand and squeezing it for comfort. “Grandmother, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get lost, but then the crowd sort of swept me away, and when I saw this lady I thought she was you, but she wasn’t, so I was confused…”

“It’s alright, Teddy,” the dark-haired woman said, her eyes never leaving those of the other woman. “I see how you might have mistaken us, from a distance.”

The blonde woman stiffened at her remark, eyes narrowing as she drew herself up. “Do try to teach your boy better manners, Andromeda,” she said, voice dripping with disdain. “If he must run around like a street urchin, at least keep him from annoying his betters.”

Andromeda’s eyes flashed as she pulled Teddy close, but the other woman had already turned and made her way through a group of students laughing at their joke shop purchases. “I’m sorry!” Teddy called a final time at her retreating back. He turned to his grandmother, eyes filling with tears. “I didn’t mean to insult her. I only said she looked like you.”

“Therein lies the insult, dear,” his grandmother explained. There was an odd weariness in her expression, coupled with some emotion Teddy could not name. “Narcissa would prefer to deny any resemblance between the two of us, even an accidental one.”

“Narcissa?” Teddy asked, looking at where the woman had disappeared. “Do you know her?”

“She was my sister,” Andromeda said coolly. “Therefore she is technically your great aunt.”

Teddy said nothing, his brow furrowed in thought. He’d known his grandmother had run away from home to marry his grandfather, but he’d never thought about the family she left behind. From the look of it, his grandmother was keen to forget the unexpected meeting with her sister, as she turned and made her way back up the alley in the opposite direction from that of Narcissa. Teddy allowed himself to be pulled along, his thoughts with the proud, sophisticated woman who had reached out to touch his hair, her haughty expression yielding for just a moment to intense curiosity. Try as he might to concentrate as his grandmother questioned him about new robes, he couldn’t stop repeating the woman’s name in his mind. It would take a great deal to make him forget Narcissa.


	2. Chapter 2

“And what has that to do with me?”

The pair stood in a sumptuously appointed drawing room adorned with black and green hangings. An enormous depiction of the Malfoy crest hung over the fireplace, the silver “M” glinting in the candlelight. Narcissa leaned on the far wall, one hand toying with the cord of the emerald curtain that had been pulled back to reveal the night sky outside. She was dressed simply in a long black silk gown, an over robe of spiderweb lace drawn around her like an embrace. In the center of the room stood Andromeda. She, too, wore black: a travelling cape and a corseted dress with a square neckline. A delicate silver chain encircled her neck, its pendant dropping out of sight between her breasts. Every muscle in her body seemed tense, either to run or to strike, it was not clear. By contrast, Narcissa lazed against the grey stones as though she hadn’t a care in the world. “I have nothing to do with your family, nor you with mine.”

“He’s sick,” Andromeda said, her voice harsh with weariness. “He’s getting worse, and quickly, too. First it was once a week, then once a day, now…”

“Try St. Mungo’s,” Narcissa suggested coolly.

Andromeda’s eyes flashed in her sister’s direction. “Don’t you think I’ve thought of that? They’re baffled, every healer in the place. The condition is so rare. They don’t know of any other sufferers in this country, in all of Europe.” She took a step closer to Narcissa, her red-rimmed eyes locked on her sister's. “He’s only eight. Still such a child. He doesn’t know why this is happening to him, why now. But you do.” She took another step. “You found a way. You made it stop.”

“I made it stop?” Narcissa’s air of languid nonchalance dissolved, twin spots of rage appearing on her high cheekbones. “Our father made it stop!” She pointed at the door. “Get out. Now, before I call my husband to throw you out.”

For a moment Andromeda did not move. Then, slowly and wearily, she turned and walked to the door. On the threshold she paused, her hand catching onto the polished wooden doorframe. “He says hello,” she muttered. “Teddy. He heard me say I was coming here and he said to tell you he’s very sorry for startling you in Diagon Alley. He also said to say that you are very pretty, and not at all like anyone’s grandmother.” She stumbled on the last few words, her voice choked with emotion. Her free hand came up to finger the chain around her throat. Silence fell between the women, then—

“He can speak? The boy?”

Andromeda nodded stiffly. “Sometimes,” she answered. “When the transformations haven’t closed up his throat or twisted his tongue into knots.” 

There was a resignation in her voice that was worse than tears. She seemed too exhausted to cry. 

With a soft swish of fabric, Narcissa released the curtain cord and walked purposefully over to the fireplace. A wand materialized in her right hand and she pointed it at the center of the silver M. “Sanctimonia vincet semper,” she intoned, and from the center of the M a vast glittering scroll began to unwind, its translucent parchment descending nearly to the floor. An ethereal quill appeared, shining silver like the M. There was no inkwell. “Come here,” Narcissa demanded, and Andromeda, stunned, obeyed. On the otherworldly parchment she could see the ghostly imprints of names and places in a hundred different handwritings. “Take this.” Narcissa pointed at the quill. “Write your family name and address at the bottom. Then sign.”

Andromeda took the ephemeral quill gently between two fingers and began to write in neat, upright letters. Silver ink flowed from the quill tip, despite having no source. When she had finished signing, she set the quill down on the mantle. “Sanctimonia vincitor,” Narcissa murmured. At once the roll of parchment shot back into the M, the quill vanishing in a shower of black sparks. The back wall of the fireplace vanished too, replaced by an opaque veil through which the image of a cozy living room could be seen. Andromeda leaned toward the image, then paused, looking back at Narcissa uncertainly. “I’ll see him,” Narcissa informed her sharply. “Don’t expect anything more.”

Andromeda nodded, her shoulders relaxing and her lips curving into the smallest of smiles. “Thank you.” Stepping forward into the grate, she reached out her arms and pressed them against the opaque veil. It felt like popping a balloon: a moment’s resistance, then nothing at all. She stumbled and nearly fell as she passed from the imposing drawing room into the familiar home.


	3. Chapter 3

A piercing scream wrent the air, echoing off the walls of the little house. Andromeda froze, then set off running, dodging between sofas and end tables and racing to the staircase. Another scream rang out as she climbed the stairs, taking them two at a time. At the top, she turned left to see a wide-eyed young woman with wavy blonde hair and long, dangling earrings coming towards her. “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Tonks, he was doing so well, sleeping and everything, and then suddenly—“

“It’s alright, Luna,” Andromeda told the young woman, slipping past her and heading toward the shadowy doorway at the end of the hall. Through it she could see a small figure writhing face down on the bed. She ran to kneel at his side and watched helplessly as the imprint of feathered wings appeared upon his back, struggling to break through his pale skin. A moment later the wings had disappeared, sinking down into his body and leaving him white and trembling. His hair, blonde this time, was soaked in sweat, his ribs visible enough to count. A shadow fell over her and Andromeda looked up to see that Narcissa had joined them. The younger woman was staring at Teddy with a mixture of horror and pity. “How long has he been like this?”

“A week, nearly two,” Andromeda replied quietly. “He stopped eating entirely yesterday, and every spell I try seems to make the transformations worse. He hasn’t left his bed in days.”

Teddy let out a soft moan and both women started forward. Andromeda shifted to one side, allowing Narcissa to draw closer to the bed. Narcissa reached out and rested a hand on Teddy’s shoulder. The boy shuddered and rolled over until he lay on his back. His eyes were red and puffy from crying, but they widened at the sight of Narcissa standing over him. “Oh,” he said, uttering a series of small coughs but keeping his eyes trained on Narcissa. “You came after all,” he managed at last.

Narcissa did not reply. Instead she took his hand in hers, gently running her thumb over the back of it. “The transformations. Can you feel where the next one will happen?”

Teddy nodded, then winced. “Sometimes,” he croaked. “Other times they surprise me.”

“Andromeda, bring me a chair,” Narcissa ordered. Andromeda obeyed and Narcissa settled herself by the head of the bed, still holding Teddy’s hand in hers. “Can you feel another shift coming now?”

“I don’t know,” Teddy whispered.

“Try,” Narcissa commanded. “Close your eyes, listen to what your body tells you. Where will the next shift occur?”

Teddy closed his eyes tightly. For a moment there was only the sound of his labored breathing, then, “Here,” he cried, tearing his hand away from hers and clutching at his chest. His breath began to come in short gasps, his limbs shaking.

“Stop that,” Narcissa ordered. “Breathe in as I count to four, then hold your breath for another four, then out.” She began to count and Teddy struggled to obey, his face contorted in pain. On his chest appeared the outline of scales, grey through his translucent skin. Narcissa moved her free hand to rest on his chest, still counting calmly until the scales faded. “What did you feel,” she asked, when his shaking subsided.

“Hurts,” he whimpered. “It hurts so much.”

There was a choked noise and Narcissa looked over to see Andromeda standing several feet away, her arms wrapped around her middle, clearly fighting to control her emotions. “Andromeda, please wait outside,” Narcissa said firmly. “Your grandson and I need to be alone.”

Andromeda nodded and retreated, her shoulders hunched with grief. Once she was gone, Narcissa turned back to Teddy. “Listen to me,” she said, meeting his brown eyes with her own. “I want you to remember how that particular transformation felt. When the next wave of magic comes, I want you to recreate the scales that you just made.”

Teddy looked horrified. “But what if the next transformation doesn’t want to be scales?”

“Who is the wizard here?” Narcissa retorted. “Who has control, you or the magic?”

Teddy’s cheeks colored slightly. “Me, I suppose.”

“Good. Concentrate, now.”

Teddy closed his eyes, breathing steadily as Narcissa counted. A minute passed in silence. Then he shuddered, emitting a soft moan. Scales spread to cover his chest, and with them patches of fur. A moment later they’d disappeared. “Not good enough,” Narcissa informed him, her voice firm but kind. “Next time, imagine how you want the scales to look, how each one is shaped, the thickness and color.”

Teddy gasped, grabbing her hand and clutching it. “It’s coming. A big one, I can feel it.”

“Where?” Narcissa asked, frowning.

Teddy rolled onto his side and pointed over his shoulder. “There,” he said, indicating his shoulder blades. “Both sides.”

“Wings?” Narcissa asked, her free hand tracing the pair of bones protruding from his back.

Teddy shook his head. “Doesn’t feel like it. It feels…I don’t know. Sharp.”

“Breathe,” Narcissa instructed, letting go of his hand and resting both of her palms on his back. “Visualize the places I touch as transparent, as though the skin is no longer a barrier. Allow the transformation to break through there, nowhere else.”

Teddy’s spine arched, his body shaking as the transformation approached him. Beneath her hands, Narcissa felt something shift. She barely removed her palms in time as porcupine quills erupted through his skin, growing until they reached a foot in length. “Good,” she told the boy, as though she had not just nearly been impaled by his magic. “Exhale and release the transformation.”

“Can’t,” Teddy whimpered. “They want to stay.”

“Don’t let them,” Narcissa insisted. “Return to what you are.”

“I don’t know…” Teddy groaned, and she saw the glimmer of tears on his cheek. “What am I?”

“Fool,” Narcissa chided. “You’re a little boy. Are boys meant to grow scales or spines?”

“No, but I grow them anyway,” Teddy whined.

“Fight back,” Narcissa urged. “You’re not an animal, to be led by your body’s desires, or a mudblood, too ignorant to understand the true nature of your magic.”

“A what?” Teddy asked blankly.

Narcissa paused, eyes flicking towards the door through which Andromeda had exited. “Nevermind,” she said at last. “Try this instead. Think of who you care about most in the world.”

“Grandmother,” Teddy responded at once. “And my Godfather Harry, and the Weasleys, and Luna.”

Narcissa stiffened at the mention of Harry’s name, but said nothing. Though the spines still protruded from Teddy’s back, his breathing and heartbeat had slowed. “Fine then. Tell me, what would you do if any of them were in danger? If your grandmother were kidnapped, say, or someone was about to attack her?”

“I’d save her,” Teddy cried at once, the muscles in his shoulders stiffening as his hands balled into fists. “I don’t know how, but I would. I’d never let anything hurt her.”

“Even if the attacker was bigger than you? Older than you?” Narcissa queried.

“Doesn’t matter,” Teddy answered. “I’m all Grandmother has, since my mother died. Even if I were killed in the fight, I’d have to try.”

“Think of those feelings,” Narcissa told him. “The love, the need to protect. Those are a part of who you are. Hold onto them as you try to form a picture of yourself. Start from the outside: pale skin, dark hair,” she brushed her fingers lightly through his sweat-soaked locks, now jet-black. “Brown eyes, button nose, freckles on both cheeks. Now inside: playing with friends, flying on a toy broom, listening to stories. Think of your godfather, of your grandmother, who keep you safe and love you. Think of all of that, and see yourself clearly. Can you do that?”

Teddy did not answer. He did not have to. One by one, the spines retracted into his skin, disappearing as though they’d never existed and leaving only the faintest red marks where they’d been. “Good,” Narcissa breathed at last, when the last spine had gone. “Very good.” She stroked his shoulder, listening to the gentle, even sound of his breathing. It took her a minute to realize that the boy had fallen asleep, exhausted by the magic. As quietly as she could, she rose from the chair and retreated to the door, slipping through it without a sound.


	4. Chapter 4

As Narcissa emerged into the hall, she saw the eccentric-looking blonde pacing nervously. The girl stopped dead when she saw Narcissa. “He’s asleep,” Narcissa informed her. “I imagine he’ll sleep until morning, but watch over him just in case.”

The young woman nodded several times and disappeared into Teddy’s room, shutting the door behind her. Narcissa made her way down the stairs, retracing her steps back to the fireplace from which she’d arrived in the house. As she entered the living room she noticed Andromeda sitting alone at the dining room table, an untouched cup of tea beside her, staring at something she held in her hand. When Narcissa drew closer, she saw that Andromeda clutched a small, framed photograph of a laughing, big-bellied man holding a girl of about Teddy’s age in his arms. At his side stood a much younger Andromeda, her dark hair swept over one shoulder, surveying her husband and child with pride. Narcissa paused, unwilling to interrupt Andromeda’s reverie, but the older woman spoke first. “I miss her.”

“Your…?” Narcissa gestured to the photo, unsure whether Andromeda even meant to speak aloud. 

“My Nymphadora,” Andromeda confirmed. “She was quite something. Always a troublemaker, curious about everything, as outgoing and cheerful as her father. Her transformations happened as naturally as breathing. I had to be stern with her just to keep her in a single shape long enough for a photograph. Ted encouraged her, of course. And it seemed so effortless. I never thought, when Teddy was born, that he might be different.”

She shook her head as though waking from a dream and looked over at Narcissa. “How is he?”

“He’ll sleep till morning,” Narcissa informed her quietly. “If another transformation fit comes on, he knows how to calm his body and mind. It will take practice, but he’ll be fine.”

Andromeda’s shoulders released some of the tension they’d been holding and she rested her elbows on the table, setting the photo down and putting her head in her hands. “Thank goodness. I couldn’t have borne another night hearing him scream and being unable to help.” She lifted her head, brown eyes meeting blue. “I’m forever grateful, Narcissa. I know it was asking a great deal, after thirty years of silence.”

“He needed me,” Narcissa replied. “You were right. I was able to help him, perhaps the way no other could.”

“Are you…” Andromeda hesitated. “Can you still…?”

Narcissa shook her head. “No,” she said, her voice even and emotionless. “Not since I was ten. It turns out magic can be cursed out of someone, after all. But I remembered enough from my struggle to control it that I could help your boy.”

“I’m sorry, Narcissa.” Andromeda murmured. “I should have protected you from him.”

“He was our father,” Narcissa replied sadly. “There was nothing you could have done. He would only have turned his wand on you instead.”

“I was—I am your older sister,” Andromeda insisted. “My duty was to protect you.”

“We all have regrets.” Narcissa turned away, unwilling to continue in this vein for much longer. “What’s done is done.”

Andromeda stood, watching as Narcissa made her way to the fire. “Will you come back?” she asked abruptly. “For Teddy, I mean?”

Narcissa paused, one hand on the mantelpiece. “I think not.” Andromeda opened her mouth to speak, but Narcissa held up a hand. “Once he’s recovered his strength, bring him to the Manor to see me. I may not be able to transform any longer, but there are many things I can still teach him.” She waited until she saw Andromeda nod, then reached into the pocket of her gown and drew out a silver key with an engraved crest on the end. She pressed the key against the back wall of the fireplace, and green light expanded outward from it until the wall was transparent and the splendor of Malfoy Manor could be seen through the slight haze. “Until then, Andromeda,” Narcissa said formally, stepping through the wall and letting it close behind her as she returned to the comfort of the Manor. Silence fell and she took a deep breath, relishing the familiarity of her own drawing room. Her temples throbbed, the sign of an impending headache. Walking slowly to a mirror that hung in the corner, she examined her own profile. Her fingers ran through her hair as she wondered for the thousandth time what it might look like as sleek and dark as that of the rest of her family. What might she have been capable of, had her father not cast that final curse that broke her, causing her appearance to freeze as it was in that moment? Would she have been able to control her powers as freely as Andromeda’s daughter had? Could she have chosen to become as striking and elegant as her sisters? The blue of her own eyes stared back at her accusingly and she flinched, turning away from the mirror. Such thoughts were pointless now. She had long since grown used to her own looks. Dwelling on the past would do no one any good. 

Turning, she left gracefully and made her way through the halls of the Manor. Far away, in an upstairs bedroom, Andromeda stood over her grandson’s bed, an odd expression on her face as she watched him slumber peacefully. More had changed that night than Teddy’s ability to transform.


End file.
